Protestors across the world use aesthetics in order to communicate their ideas and ensure their voices are heard. This book looks at protest aesthetics, which we consider to be the visual and performative elements of protest, such as images, symbols, graffiti, art, as well as the choreography of protest actions in public spaces. Through the use of social media, protestors have been able to create an alternative space for people to engage with politics that is more inclusive and participatory than traditional politics. This volume focuses on the role of visual culture in a highly mediated environment and draws on case studies from Europe, Thailand, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and the Middle East in order to demonstrate how protestors use aesthetics to communicate their demands and ideas. It examines how digital media is harnessed by protestors and argues that all protest aesthetics are performative and communicative.
This volume focuses on the role of visual culture in a highly mediated environment and draws on case studies from Europe, Thailand, South Africa, USA, Argentina, and the Middle East in order to demonstrate how protestors use aesthetics to communicate their demands and ideas.
Acknowledgements, Preface: Devisualize Nicholas Mirzoeff Introduction:
The Aesthetics of Global Protest: Visual Culture and Communication Aidan
McGarry, Itir Erhart, Hande Eslen-Ziya, Olu Jenzen, and Umut Korkut PART I:
PERFORMANCE, ART AND POLITICS
Chapter 1: Queer Visual Activism in South
Africa Tessa Lewin
Chapter 2: The Use of Visibility in Contentious Events in
Northern Ireland Katy Hayward and Milena Komarova
Chapter 3: Maybe We Will
Benefit From Our Neighbour's Good Fortune: An Exhibition on Collectivity,
Community and Dialogue in Turkey Isil Egrikavuk
Chapter 4: Political Street
Art in Social Mobilization: A Tale of Two Protests in Argentina Holly Eva
Ryan
Chapter 5: Archiving Dissent: (Im)material Trajectories of Political
Street Art in Istanbul and Athens Julia Tulke
Chapter 6: The Introvert's
Protest: Handwriting the Constitution and the Performance of Politics
Interview with Morgan O'Hara by Aidan McGarry PART II: VISUAL ACTIVISM AND
DIGITAL CULTURE
Chapter 7: Photography and protest in Israel/Palestine: The
Activestills online archive Simon Faulkner
Chapter 8: Drones, Cinema, and
Protest in Thailand Noah Viernes
Chapter 9: Bearing Witness to
Authoritarianism and Commoning through Video Activism and Political
Film-Making after the Gezi Protests Özge Özdüzen
Chapter 10: Music Videos as
Protest Communication: The Gezi Park Protest on YouTube Olu Jenzen, Itir
Erhart, Hande Eslen-Ziya, Derya Güçdemir, Umut Korkut, and Aidan McGarry
Chapter 11: The Activist Chroniclers of Occupy Gezi: Counterposing Visibility
to Injustice Dan Mercea and Helton Levy
Chapter 12: When Twitter got #woke:
Black Lives Matter, DeRay McKesson, Twitter, and the Appropriation of the
Aesthetics of Protest Farida Vis, Simon Faulkner, Safiya Umoja Noble and
Hannah Guy PART III: CONCLUSION
Chapter 13 Conclusion: Reflections on Protest
and Political Transformation since 1789 Jim Aulich, Index.
Aidan McGarry is a Reader in International Politics at the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance at Loughborough University, London. Itir Erhart is an Associate Professor at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Media and Communication Systems. Hande Eslen-Ziya is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Stavanger. Olu Jenzen is Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton, UK and the Director of the Research Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender. Umut Korkut is Professor of International Politics at Glasgow Caledonian University. He has previously published extensively on migration, populism, and democratisation in Hungary and Turkey including two monographs entitled Liberalization Challenges in Hungary and Politics and Gender Identity in Turkey. Currently, he leads the Horizon 2020 funded project D.Rad DeRadicalisation in Europe and Beyond: Detest, Resolve, Reintegrate (2020-2023).
